鈥淭he day of his death was a dark cold day
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The death of the poet is kept from his poems鈥�
(from 鈥淚n Memory of W.B. Yeats鈥� by W.H. Auden line 6 & 11)
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Leonard Cohen was a rare poet, and we are left to ponder the impact of his gifts. Infrequently do we find someone who so successfully makes a living as a poet. And that may be a reflection of how little we value art in our lives.
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Leonard Cohen touched our lives. As an English teacher I was privileged to share his poetry with students from the 1960鈥檚 to the 1990鈥檚. He was popular with students and their parents. How did this happen?
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The role of the poet is to entertain the people, to drive away their cares and to put them in touch with God. I borrow here from Shevchenko鈥檚 鈥淧erebendia鈥�. The poet tricks the people with his kobza, his music. But at night Perebendia sits on the grave mounds and communes with his God.
The grandson of a rabbi, Cohen grew up immersed in Jewish culture. 鈥淏asically he was born to be a rabbi,鈥� says biographer Sylvie Simmons. Cohen was deeply spiritual. In his last album You Want It Darker he says, 鈥淗ineni, hineni鈥� 鈥� 鈥渉ere I am鈥�, I鈥檓 ready to act in service.
In his letter to a dying Marianne he says, 鈥渨e are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon鈥� if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine,"
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Of Jesus Cohen says, 鈥淎ny guy who says 'Blessed are the poor. Blessed are the meek' has got to be a figure of unparalleled generosity鈥� A generosity that would overthrow the world if it was embraced because nothing would weather that compassion.鈥�
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Spiritual all his life, Cohen was ordained a Buddhist monk in 1996 and spent some time in a monastery. The depth of his daily walk with God impacts us as well. He took his religion very seriously. As a result his readers are more in touch with the bible:
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鈥淚s there no Joab for tomorrow night
with his three darts
and a great heap of stone?鈥�
(鈥淧rayer for Sunset鈥� Leonard Cohen)
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The sun has set for Cohen, but the power of his poetry lives on. The raw sensuality of his lyrics appeals to us:
鈥淢y mouth on the dew of your thighs.
And I'll bury my soul in a scrapbook,
With the photographs there, and the moss.
And I'll yield to the flood of your beauty鈥� (from 鈥淭ake this waltz鈥�)
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鈥沦颈濒别苍肠别
and a deeper silence
when the crickets
贬别蝉颈迟补迟别鈥�
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鈥淟ike a bird on a wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir,
I have tried in my life to be free鈥�
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鈥淲hen you鈥檙e not feeling holy, your loneliness
says that you鈥檝e sinned.鈥�
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There is a crack in everything,
That鈥檚 how the light gets in鈥�
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鈥淚 have tried in my way to be free鈥�
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鈥淚 did my best, it wasn鈥檛 much鈥鈥檝e told the truth, I didn鈥檛 come all this way to fool you.鈥�
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Cohen described writing poetry as 鈥渟acred mechanics鈥�. As a wordsmith he gave proof to
Coleridge's dictum that poetry is the best words in the best order.
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Cohen used his gift to praise God, even though his attempts sometimes seemed to him like 鈥渁 cold and very lonely Hallelujah鈥�. Saint and sinner, in the end Cohen stood before his God 鈥渨ith nothing on [his] tongue but Hallelujah鈥�.
